Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My comments today are on the transfer of federal positions to the North which we are still awaiting word on when a decision will be made, how many, if any, positions from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development may be moved North. For the last three years, the government has been pursuing this, and I have been asking questions and making statements on this quest arguing that the North will be better served if those people were to live here in the North.

Several studies have been completed to address this matter, Mr. Speaker, and I was on the understanding that Indian Affairs Minister Jane Stewart was to make an announcement on this matter several weeks ago. All sorts of studies can be done, but the reality is that DIAND staffers cannot effectively carry out their duties half a continent away. When we see how they fooled around with the diamond issue, the value-added industry, if it had not have been for this government, these Members, the communities, and members of the public here in the Northwest Territories, with the support from our communities, Canada would have lost a whole industry. Mr. Speaker, it is time that DIAND got on with the job of addressing the issue of transferring those positions North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause